The cameras are getting ready to roll in Margate. Director Sam Mendes, along with the rest of the cast and crew for Empire of Light, are on location in the English town where they will be filming the new project up and down the Kent coastline well into the spring. Along with the news that principal photography has begun, it has also been revealed that Tom Brooke and Hannah Onslow will appear in the feature alongside previously announced starring actors Olivia Colman, Micheal Ward, Colin Firth, Toby Jones, Crystal Clarke, and Tanya Moodie.
Empire Of Light, which will transport audiences to the 1980s, centers on a love story around and inside the walls of a charming old cinema. Along with helming the movie as its director, Mendes also wrote the screenplay, which stands as the creative’s first solo writing piece. The director and writer will produce alongside Pippa Harris on behalf of the duo’s Neal Street Productions, with Searchlight Pictures providing the film’s theatrical release.
An Academy Award, two time Golden Globe, and BAFTA award-winning director, critical acclaim seems to follow Mendes wherever he goes. After massive success on the theaters of Broadway, staging revivals of fan favorite musicals including Cabaret (1993) and Oliver! (1994), Mendes made his directorial debut with 1999’s award circuit favorite, American Beauty. Following his Academy and Golden Globe nabs for Best Director behind the groundbreaking film, Mendes went on to direct classic dramas like Revolutionary Road as well as two James Bond films, Skyfall and Spectre. He gained more notoriety and award buzz in 2019 following the release of his World War I based film, 1917, which earned him a second Golden Globe.
Known for keeping a rotating door of collaborators on his projects, Mendes will be bringing back cinematographer Roger Deakins, whom he has worked with on a slew of films including Skyfall and Jarhead. Several other artists who worked with Mendes on 1917 will also be joining the fold for Empire Of Light, including casting director Nina Gold, executive producer Julie Pastor, and sound mixer Stuart Wilson, just to name a few.
Happy to be back at it with a dynamite group of actors and production, Mendes said that he was “thrilled” to be able to share the stage with “so many wonderful collaborators”. He expressed an added excitement of his first chance to work with the Academy and Emmy award-winning, Colman (The Favourite, The Crown), as well as being able to reunite with cinematographer pal, Deakins.
With filming now underway, we can expect to both hear and see more coming from the coastline of Kent. As always, stay tuned to Collider for more information surrounding Empire Of Light as it becomes available.